2013 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

Growling like a night owl roused early, the V12 responds to the minuscule increase in pressure on the floor-hinged, cast-aluminum throttle pedal. This 6.3-liter engine makes the F12 Berlinetta Ferrari's fastest-ever road car, yet it is content to saunter in seventh gear among Fiats ferrying Italian families home from lengthy summer Sunday afternoon lunches in the hills south of Maranello. Many stare, and so they should. Even at 55 mph, with less than 2,000 rpm showing on its big, yellow-faced tachometer, this easygoing engine's response to a request for a tiny fraction more power is instant.

Docility and 731 hp are not often seen in the same sentence, let alone the same car. With the V12 singing octane opera around Fiorano, the company racetrack adjacent to its factory complex, the F12 Berlinetta's soft side is forgotten. But even via the soaring, open-throated wail of its 8,250-rpm power crescendo, the engine's delivery is precise. If 1 hp less is what the driver wants, an infinitesimal easing of pressure on the pedal will deduct it. At least that's the way it feels.

Ferrari aimed for the same sensation of exactitude not only with the 6.3-liter engine, but with the entire F12 Berlinetta. Front- mounted V12, rear-drive, two seats, all beautifully wrapped—this is the most classic and enduring of Ferrari formulas. While the layout has advantages in terms of practicality and, arguably, aesthetics, for years the sharpest road-carving tools from Maranello have been mid-engine.

With the F12 Berlinetta, the aim was to make a great leap forward. It would take a breakthrough design to emphatically better the car it was to replace, the 599 GTB Fiorano, and to claim outright performance and handling supremacy. By Ferrari's own measures, it nailed the target.

The F12 Berlinetta cuts a quicker Fiorano lap than the mid-engine 458 Italia and the older Enzo, as well as the front-engine 599 GTO and 599 GTB Fiorano. Its 0-to-62-mph and 0-to-124-mph times are 3.1 seconds and 8.5 seconds, respectively, with a top speed of 211 mph. Ferrari also claims the F12 Berlinetta stops better than the 599 GTB Fiorano from 124 mph.

Stripped bare, the F12 Berlinetta's chassis looks like a small civil-engineering project. What it lacks in beauty it more than makes up for in sophistication. It's all aluminum, with different alloys used for specific roles: three types for castings, four for extrusions and another three for sheetmetal parts. Compared with the 599, this chassis is more compact, more than 100 pounds lighter, shifting weight rearward for a 46/54 percent front/rear split, similar to a mid-rear-engine car, which contributes to a center of gravity that is an inch closer to the road.

The V12's dry-sump design means it can be mounted low, while the chassis architecture allows it to be mounted well aft. It's not a short engine, but all of it is located behind the front axle line. Between the rear wheels is a dual-clutch seven-speed transaxle. While related to the transmission introduced last year in the FF, there are extensive changes.

The F12 Berlinetta has a new ratio set. While sixth in the FF is direct, and seventh an overdrive, in the F12 Berlinetta seventh is the one-to-one direct gear (in which the car achieves its top speed). The latest generation of Ferrari's torque-distributing differential, E-Diff3, is integrated in the gearbox housing for further weight savings. To save space in the F12 Berlinetta's rear end, Ferrari's engineers reduced fuel-tank capacity to 24.3 gallons. With the improved efficiency of the V12, there's no reduction in driving range, they claim.

Key dimensions of the F12 Berlinetta are all smaller than those of the 599, its wheelbase more than an inch shorter, narrower by almost an inch, with even greater reductions to height and length. The car's proportions are also altered. There is about three inches less overhang at the rear, and more than two inches were added at the nose to accommodate the engine's increased cooling requirements.

Attached to the F12 Berlinetta's core structure is a set of drool-worthy chassis components. The double-wishbone front suspension and the multilink rear are assemblies of exquisite castings and forgings. Inside each wheel's coil spring is a damper filled with magnetorheological fluid; when a magnetic field is applied, its tiny ferrous spheres respond instantly by increasing viscosity. With the proper control algorithms, these dampers can be superbly supple on rough roads and deliciously disciplined on a racetrack.

Mounted ahead of the front axle line is a very direct steering rack. Engineers say they paid special attention to reducing friction in the hydraulically assisted mechanism.

Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes are standard on the F12 Berlinetta. Slight changes to the manufacturing process produce a disc compatible with less aggressive pads. Better feel and braking consistency are the results. Improvements also were made to the so-called prefill function, which reduces slack in the system to deliver more immediate response.

Enclosing this feast of exotic materials and advanced tech is a body that manipulates air without any too-obvious aids. “We get aero by subtraction from the volume, not add-ons,” is how one engineer explained the Ferrari approach.

The F12 Berlinetta introduces a signature air-management feature, but from some angles the “aero bridge” is practically invisible. Spanning a valley between the front fenders and the A-pillar base, the “aero bridge” channels air from troughs pressed in the hood, angling it downward to merge with the flow along the Ferrari's flanks. Even more subtle is the “blown spoiler” in the car's tail, which connects the rear wheel wells to mesh vents on either side of the Ferrari's liftback, controlling pressure to benefit aerodynamic efficiency.

The active front-brake cooling ducts, which open only when the discs need fresh air, are another efficiency booster. With the F12 Berlinetta's bottom enclosed by an aero undertray, the hood's central vent is essential for engine cooling. From the rear, the four-finned diffuser is obvious. The two central fins, on either side of the Formula One-inspired fog light, are vortex-generating downforce enhancers. At 124 mph, the F12 Berlinetta's shape, with its 0.299 drag co-efficient, generates 270 pounds of downforce.

The shape is good for more than cutting (the air) and pasting (to the road). The F12 Berlinetta is spacious inside, capable, Ferrari says, of fitting drivers and passengers up to six feet, four inches tall. There also is room for luggage for two. Trunk volume is 11.3 cubic feet, located beneath the folding panel that conceals contents. Lowering this panel increases available space to 17.6 cubic feet.

It's a rather practical Ferrari, but is it also a car that can inspire awe and passion once the luggage is stowed?

Simply designed but superbly crafted, the cabin is a leathery environment. Vision is good compared with the mid-engine monsters that deliver similar performance. The immaculate hand-stitching of the low-set instrument panel, the feel of the aluminum air vents and the snugness of the seats mean pleasure begins even before the steering wheel's large red engine-start button is thumbed. With the V12 idling, twist Ferrari's trademark steering-wheel manettino dial from sport to race, tap the aluminum paddle-shift blade on the right to engage a gear, and go.

Two hot laps of Fiorano, plus a cool-down, aren't enough for an exploration of the F12 Berlinetta's potential. In fact, it's hard to get past the engine's might and magnificence. It begins to sing from 3,000 rpm, with a further increase in tempo and intensity around 6,000 rpm, the tach needle whipping toward the V12's 8,700-rpm max. The quantity of horsepower is, at first, overwhelming. Then you notice the engine's linear and fast responsiveness. It's a quality no turbo engine can possess, and that only the most highly developed, high-performance naturally aspirated engines will ever approach.

The seven-speed dual-clutch is a perfect partner for the V12. It shifts gears without perceptible pause. Manually initiated shifts happen instantly. In auto mode, this transmission, with the manettino set to race, has the brains and skill to impersonate a race driver.

Leaving shifting temporarily to the excellent electronic controls makes it possible to concentrate on the car's steering, braking and handling. The grip of the 20-inch Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires (Pirelli and Bridgestone will also be offered once production starts in September) is great, but not as great as the engine. Race mode permits plenty of power-on slippage at the rear, so turning off traction and stability controls is best left for the super-skilled or the foolishly curious type.

Braking is very, very good. Not only does the rate of deceleration impress, but also the stability of the F12 as it sheds huge quantities of speed. But it is the Ferrari's steering that's the star: With only two turns lock to lock, it's very direct, but its frictionless feel and accuracy are what make it truly great.

The car's steering also works well on the road. Speed and precision are a great help in threading a car as wide as this through narrow Italian village streets and over kinked and cramped mountain roads.

In the case of the F12 Berlinetta, exhilaration on the track doesn't translate to exhaustion on the road. In everyday sport mode, the Ferrari rides comfortably. It's only at very low speeds that there's an occasional misstep. The brakes sometimes bite more abruptly than intended, and the drivetrain now and then jerks when clutching and shifting at very light throttle openings— insignificant prices to pay for so much readily accessible speed.

With its ability to play differing roles, the F12 Berlinetta is a great achievement. Ferrari says this car is the beginning of a new generation of “extreme V12 sports cars.” If so, extremism just got a whole lot more desirable.